Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-19

CHAPTER NV.
The first intimation that SheveIin had
received If the existence o; the plot 10
rob the Manhattan Bank dated back to
the early part Of 1874, when he had occu-
pied his position IS watchmsn nearly two
years. He was one day accosted by
man whom be had known in his boytood,
and had met from time to time since
then, who informed hin that he and four
or five others desired 20 make az Gttemp.
on the bank vault, IL pointed cat that
the Manhattan KEEP, 81 least IS much
MONEY in It's saie5 as any b3nk in Nv
York, end that its position rendered it
more easily accessible than Ru7 other.
He told Shevein that his share of the
plu1der would make him rich man, and
inst oil ne would De required to do would
be TO look another way uGtil the gang got
into the hsrk. lie would run no r::ke,
and his reward would De enormous.
For long time Shevelin turned deaf
ear to these proposals. He was a ~ fried
man; he was proud Of the trust reposed
in him, and he was apprehensIve Of the
crime. The burglar, however, would not
take no for an answer, and he persisted
in his efforts until Shevelin's good reso-
buttons finally weakened aud gave way
He told his friend to hold his men in
readiness and he would fix date. when
he should be on duty, for the accomplish
ment OF the robbery.
The name Of SheYelin's friend was Tim
Tracy, sud he was already well known to
the police. He was plumber by trade,
and by practice g general thief; 8 sturdy,
muscular fellow, over six feet in height,
and desperate man when cornered He
had served more thgn one term of inpris-
onment, and more than once ne had es-
capped from confinement. Among others
who were associated with him in this en-
terpEse were the famous Johnny Dobbs
and George l.. Howard, otherwise known
IS Western George, 6 gentleman by birth,
q man Of collegiate education, q skilled
macainist and in many res oeCts the ablest
and most remarkable bank burglar that
ever operated in America.
The first thing TO be done was TO rsise
money enough 10 pay for the mGnufsuture
Of the fine tools necessary 70 Oaen the
sGfes. No small suGs will suni e for
such purpose. Olly the best materials
will serve, and the most thorough and
expert workmanship. Instead of adopt
I ing the obvious course q applying to
/ John D. Grady, whose pure wss always
open to the needs Of his friends-if
backed by p reasonable prospect Of cent
/ per cent.-Tracy chose the more indie
pendent, but more perilOus course of
raising the wind by pTomiscuou5 robbery.
/ Burglary, p3Cketpicking, sneaktlieving,
highway robbery nothing came amiss to
him that offered q prospect of increasing
n a Nat-
/ playing for was so large that
could he secure it he would be above
( the need Of further labor for the rest of
his life. All was gong On prosperously
when enviOus fate caused Mr.. Tracy to
be caught in the sc: of emptyiug q gen
| tleman's pockets on the highway and he
was committed TO states prison for
! term OF years. The rest Of the gang dis
persed for the time being, and thus the
! first attack on the Manhattan Bank
ended ere it had We'll begun.
Johnny Dobbs YVES the next champion
to take up the Jimmy let fall by the gal
Isn't Tracy, and with him were George
Howard Snd g man who now appears for
the first time on the scene, but whose
burglsriOus renOWn entities him to be
dubbed the Napoleon CT MS profession
mo other than the redoubtable Jimmy
Hope. These three men were together
equal to any undertaking, and
the combination was made still stronger
by the addition Of one George Mason,
who was not only ? master OF his craft but
a man, who, like Dobbs, had no objection
to using revolver when occasion de-
manded. This band Of operators did not
suffer from the peCuniaTy drawback
which had brought the first one to such q
disastrous end, for they had received sub
stantial aid from Mr.. Grady, aud were
crowded with all the implements they re-
CURED. Grady had also furnished them
with special information regarding the
nature of the combination lock with which
they had to deal, and with certain other
useful detsils as to the internal arrange
ments of the bank BY what means Grady
obtained this knowledge be did not state,
nor was it ever made known until the
publication of the present narrative. Few
secrets have been better kept than this,
which is, to ell practical intents and pur-
poses, secret still.
Meanwhile SheyeiiD, or being ap.
preached by Dob5s, manifested cOyress
which may have been either real or az
feCted, but wes probably Chic fly tie re-
suit of timidity. Do5bs, however, wooed
his consent by representing to him that
his former capitulation to Tracy was
known, End thst nothing would be easier
than to drop hint to the officers of tn
bank to the effect that their Sunday
wstchman was no better than he should
be. In view OF the possible results of
such a communication, Shevelin SUI
cumbed for the second time, and ope "a
tons began,
This time they proceeded more sci.n
titicalIy and deliberately. G. Jorge HoE-
ard, on learning the kind of lock that
protected the vault, procured another by
the same maker, and of identicsl stTuc-
ture, and set to work to study cut the
beast means o. beating it. After several
weeks Of experimenting, he lit upon TN
simple device of boring hole directly
underneath the combination plate, which
done, nothing was essier than,
by means Of long steel wire, TO throw
back the tumblers OF the lock, and open
the door. This grand discovery OF How
ards removed the chief obstacle in the
patksof The burglars, but before 1t could
be put in practice an incident h5ppened
WaEh once more postponed the execution
ofHe b.
.sHowsrd had for some time previous,
Sssasn or i'll terns with certain Of his COM
tSkes, the cause whereof YVES OBSCURE,
hIt il was understood tra! there Ta5 g
4pman az the b1t.H-l f =. = Nv days
He Ge hati s.l:eG the luck pcob en-, ne
~ ived g .lssteT, = Q1es,ils MS ium5di-